


hope is what remains to be seen

by klainelynch



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Aziraphale and Crowley Through The Ages (Good Omens), Aziraphale loves books (and Crowley but he won't say it yet), Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Historical, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:07:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22248352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klainelynch/pseuds/klainelynch
Summary: The bookshop is now open, and Crowley finds an excuse to show up. Or: that story where Aziraphale reads to Crowley, who is quietly, patiently, absolutely in love.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	hope is what remains to be seen

The hardest moments weren’t found in the most dramatic ones. Crowley could coexist with Aziraphale as they bickered over who had to cover his share of the Arrangement that time. He was fine when he had to save Aziraphale at the Bastille (and the century before that, and three centuries before _that_ ). It was ok when Crowley gave him chocolates under the pretense of celebrating Aziraphale’s new bookshop. Aziraphale’s soft smile wasn’t going to be the thing to undo him. And it wasn’t going to be the glass of wine that Aziraphale had offered in return either.

No, of all the blessed things in the world, it was Aziraphale glancing at his shelf, casually pulling a book he had clearly been eyeing all night, and finally bringing it over to the couch.

“Is this my cue to leave, then?” Crowley asked.

“Oh!” Aziraphale said. “Oh, no, not at all, dear boy—not unless you’ve somewhere to be. It’s just,” Aziraphale flipped through the pages in a pointed effort _not_ to look at Crowley, “I have heard heaven make such terrible complaints about this book, so I thought you may want to read it—with me—but it’s certainly alright if you’re too busy and—”

“Angel,” Crowley interrupted. “I’m happy to stay. I’d love it, actually. I mean, what else have I got to do?” _A bit on the nose there_ , he thought. Crowley threw back the rest of his wine and grabbed the bottle to refill both of their glasses in hopes of brushing the moment to the side. “C’mon, start reading whatever heaven’s decided is the new cool way for humans to damn themselves to my side,” he said. He couldn’t see the title of this book that had heaven in a tizzy, and frankly, he didn’t care. Aziraphale’s smile was confirmation that he had made the right choice in staying.

Aziraphale sipped his wine and opened the book. As he read, Crowley found himself struggling to follow the plot. It wasn’t any fault on Aziraphale’s part; no, the angel had a very clear voice, and even tried to do some of the characters’ voices at times. It didn’t always exactly work, but the effort was commendable, and he gave Aziraphale a reassuring smile every time so that he’d be brave enough to do it again. No, Crowley was struggling because he had to put all of his “pay attention to Aziraphale” energy into the “put a damper on this lovesickness” compartment.

Love, love, love, how could Aziraphale not sense it? Crowley knew, despite his best efforts, that he must be lousy with it. And one of these days, it may get him killed. But not today. Today, he kept a cool expression behind his glasses, laughed at all the right parts (heaven _was_ right to worry about this book after all), and pushed down the emotions threatening to overwhelm him once again. He couldn’t hide forever; he wasn’t enough of a fool to try that. But he could hide today.

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to research un-heavenly books that could fit in the timeline of Aziraphale opening the shop, but came up short, so let your imagination fill in the blanks there.  
> Title is a Rush lyric, so I'm dedicating this fic to the memory of Neil Peart even though it has absolutely nothing to do with him.  
> Comments are always appreciated :)
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [klainelynch](https://klainelynch.tumblr.com/)


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